| Billy DeBeck | |
|---|---|
 Billy DeBeck with Barney Google and Spark Plug | |
| Born | William Morgan DeBeck April 15, 1890 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | November 11, 1942 (aged 52) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist |
Notable works | Barney Google |
| Collaborators | Paul Fung, Fred Lasswell |
William Morgan DeBeck (April 15, 1890 – November 11, 1942), better known as Billy DeBeck, was an American cartoonist. He is most famous as the creator of the comic strip Barney Google, later retitled Barney Google and Snuffy Smith. The strip was especially popular in the 1920s and 1930s, and featured a number of well-known characters, including the title character, Bunky, Snuffy Smith, and Spark Plug the race horse. Spark Plug was a merchandising phenomenon, and has been called the Snoopy of the 1920s.
DeBeck drew with a scratchy line in a "big-foot" style, in which characters had giant feet and bulbous noses. His strips often reflected his love of sports. In 1946, the National Cartoonists Society inaugurated the Billy DeBeck Memorial Awards (or the Barney Awards), which became the Reuben Award in 1954.